Judge Strikes Down Trump's Immigrant Visa Ban on 75 Countries, Saying Rubio Made the Refusals a Foregone Conclusion

U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas in Manhattan on Aug. 21 struck down the State Department's suspension of immigrant visas for 75 countries, ruling it "contrary to law" and beyond Secretary of State Marco Rubio's statutory authority. The January policy halted permanent-residence visas for close to 40 percent of the world's nations, among them Brazil, Colombia, Haiti, Somalia and Russia, on the stated ground that their nationals would "take welfare and public benefits."

Federal law permits a public-charge refusal only after an officer weighs the applicant's own finances, age, health, skills and family circumstances. A Rubio cable in the record told consular officers to refuse applicants even when someone "provides additional evidence that demonstrates he or she overcomes the public charge refusal." Vargas wrote that "the outcome is predetermined," and found the policy collided with a 1965 statute barring nationality-based discrimination in visa issuance.

Vargas reversed denials that rested solely on the policy; refusals citing other grounds stand, leaving the number of reversals unclear. She gave both sides until Sept. 11 to propose how to resolve what remains, and the administration can appeal. The government won one narrow point: the judge agreed the policy was not a rule requiring public comment.